I was already intrigued by Dragon Age before I heard that the developers were looking to writers such as George R. R. Martin (author of the brilliant and enthralling A Song of Ice and Fire series) for inspiration; afterwards I had no idea what to do with the long months before I could get my hands on this first title. The idea of a dark and gritty fantasy with hints of realism is an enticing premise and luckily the game does not disappoint.

That said, there are plenty of well -trod fantasy trope pathways travelled here, not least when it comes to the old skool set of races. When creating your character you can take your pick from "Dalish" Elf, City Elf, Dwarf Commoner, Dwarf Noble, Mage or Human Noble. However, there's plenty of interesting history weaving the fates of the races together and pulling them apart to ensure that Dragon Age's world is unique.

The storyline is complex and engaging with excellent dialogue to bring it to life. There are multiple threads of narrative available to you depending on the choices you make, from the character you opt for to the answers you choose to give in conversations. In fact virtually every decision you make will have genuine consequences that reverberate throughout the game. This adds considerably to Dragon Age's lifespan-- it's hard to resist taking a stab at the game with each character class to discover the effect is has on the story and you're bound to find yourself thinking "what would have happened if only I made a different decision at that point?" If only there were more hours in the day...

The combat is very enjoyable and pleasingly gory and there are tonnes of abilities and powers to learn and use to shake up your battles. If you have already played Knights of the Old Republic then you'll probably feel right at home with the fight mechanics.

Dragon Age's only let down is its graphics (the PC version fares far better here), with visuals that simply do not live up to the high standard that we are accustomed to these days. To be fair the PS3 version scrubs up a bit better overall in this department with much better textures than its drab 360 sister but on the other hand the visual glitches are, apparently, more prevalent. It's a shame that the game doesn't look better but when you are offered such a vast, deep and involving adventure, it seems silly to turn your nose up at the fact that its a bit scruffy.